Nursing homes' donations ripped

May 22, 2001|By David Heinzmann, Tribune staff reporter.

An advocacy group for the disabled released a study Monday that it said showed that the nursing home industry has contributed money to key Illinois lawmakers to thwart efforts encouraging independence for individuals over life in a nursing facility.

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and Access Living says $652,000 was given in 1999 and 2000 and that slowed progress on providing the disabled with health care services at home. Nursing homes continue to take in large numbers of patients who have nowhere else to go, according to the report.

Gov. George Ryan and legislative leaders have been the largest beneficiaries of the nursing home industry's giving, said David Morrison, project coordinator for the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. Over a two-year period, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) received $159,100; Ryan received $89,650; and House Republican Leader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) received $84,850, the report said.

Senate Minority Leader Emil Jones (D-Chicago) received $24,200, and Senate Majority Leader James "Pate" Philip (R-Wood Dale) received $20,950, according to the report.

The majority of the money came from individual nursing homes, rather than the industry's two Illinois political action committees, the Illinois Health Care Association and the Illinois Council on Longterm Care, Morrison said. The industry is among the top-five political contributors in Springfield, Morrison said.

The report argues that the nursing home industry has lobbied to keep funding for in-home services low despite a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said states must have an effective plan to move people with disabilities out of nursing homes. The result is a large number of people who cannot get in-home services tend to end up in homes.

"This is another example of why we need to take another look at the way political campaigns are funded," Morrison said.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown dismissed the report as poorly researched and said there was no evidence the contributions had influenced decision making about funding for the disabled in Springfield.

"I believe [Madigan] has been supportive of minimizing institutionalization," he said.

State Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago), a member of the Senate who said he does not have any special influence on health care matters, received $49,840. He said he received that much because several Jewish nursing home owners live in his North Side district and are big donors because he actively supports Jewish organizations and causes.

"I don't have any connections to the health care industry," Silverstein said. "I even voted against them a couple of times, and they weren't very happy about it."